Enough is enough - it's time to name the date as election climate heats up

Michelle Grattan

NOW comes the climate policy. That's the next big thing for Julia Gillard, after the triumph of the mining tax compromise and the U-turn on asylum seekers that has hit choppy seas.

Gillard will soon unveil a policy for when you don't have an emissions trading policy. By her own test – she believes we need a price on carbon – it must be a cop-out for those who are serious about climate unless it does make some gesture on pricing. She has already indicated she will stick to the Rudd timetable (which she advised him to adopt) for reconsidering the emissions trading scheme – 2012 at the earliest.

Still, she'll apply some cheapish sparkle and hope the package will pass the test of the crucial swinging voters who bought the whole Kevin '07 climate pitch. After her problems with the regional processing centre idea, she can't afford any more missteps.

The speed with which Gillard found the asylum seeker policy sinking contains a salutary lesson for the new PM. Once you get into a campaign, which is effectively where we are, when things go awry it is politically costly.

If there is one thing modern political leaders strive for, it's discipline — on their own part and from their followers. Gillard couldn't ask for more from her party, where MPs are totally behind her and can hardly muster a good word for her predecessor. As far as Labor is concerned, she'd better live up to expectations; it would turn pretty ugly if she failed.

Tony Abbott had a dreadful campaign in 2007. He was health minister at the time – remember his bad language to health spokeswoman Nicola Roxon? At the moment he is riveted to his message but the campaign itself will put a lot more pressure on him. He has recently been rolling out some micro policies, as well as the big $1.5 billion mental health initiative. When the policies are flowing in earnest, the Coalition will be on trial. If promises and their costings are not credible, Abbott will struggle to gain ground.

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Experienced though she is, Gillard faces an altogether new level of scrutiny. The degree of difficulty of the prime ministerial job was obvious as she struggled with the asylum policy.

At her side during the formal campaign will be John Faulkner, who last week dealt a blow when he said he would go to the backbench next term. He flatly denied his proposed departure had anything to do with the regime change; even if that's true, it has left next term's prospective ministry (assuming a win) looking a little thinner.

Faulkner has been in the travelling party for leaders Kim Beazley, Mark Latham and Kevin Rudd. He has a good tactical brain and presumably a calming presence, though his demeanour is that of the stern uncle. Within Labor circles, Faulkner's elder statesman status is virtually unrivalled by any presently active politician. He bridges personal and factional divides. Rudd and Gillard had him as honest broker in their meeting on the night the Gillard challenge unfolded. Rudd and Latham could not be more different characters, but they were both happy to call on Faulkner to travel in their election caravans.

As soon as the climate policy is cleared away, the next step is the election date. The expectation in Canberra is that Gillard is likely to call it within a couple of weeks. Her other choice is to give herself more time to bed down her initiatives, pushing election day to October, which would probably have been Rudd's choice. The Labor strategists will be glued to the polling, which from now will be showing whether the "honeymoon" has been dented by the trouble Gillard has encountered. All delay would do, however, is to make for an endless campaign. The Gillard government would not have time to begin anything new in the weeks remaining – it would be a matter of promises for the next term. Also, given the circumstances of her ascension, Gillard needs her own mandate as soon as possible.

The public, who get sick of permanent election mode, could start to feel pretty jaded if things dragged out too long. Enough is enough. Let's get that voting done.